California Raisin Advisory Board

The California Raisin Advisory Board (or CALRAB) was a California state marketing commission based in Fresno, California that was created in the mid-1900s to coordinate the regulation and promotion of the state's raisin crop.[1] The group became most noted from 1986 to 1994 for developing an international advertising campaign using The California Raisins claymation characters.[1] The California Raisin campaign was funded by an initial grant of US$3 million from the United States Department of Agriculture.[2] Although popular with the public, the California Raisin campaign eventually failed because its production cost the raisin growers almost twice their earnings.[2] CALRAB was closed on July 31, 1994, after the success of the campaign had triggered a vicious cycle: because it was a nonprofit organization and could not profit from the California Raisins, CALRAB chose to divert earnings from the campaign to fund more advertisements, thereby increasing costs until members revolted.[3] Following the board's collapse, the California Raisins became (intellectual) property of the state of California.[1] In 1998, the California Raisin Marketing Board, funded by raisin growers, was established to replace CALRAB as the promotional organization for the raisin crop.[1]

References

1. Cline, Harry (April 9, 2008). "California raisins moving up consumption ladder once again". Western Farm Press. Archived from the original on 2010-12-02. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
2. White, Michael D. (2009). A Short Course in International Marketing Blunders. World Trade Press. p. 160. ISBN 9781607800088.
3. Perry, Charles (July 28, 1994). "Something We Ate: Used to Hear It Through the Grapevine". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.

External links

• California Raisin Marketing Board website Archived 2021-06-10 at the Wayback Machine